What happened
Shares of Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLDQ) continued their slide today despite a momentary pop on its earnings report two weeks ago. As of 11:54 a.m. EDT, the stock was down 7.4%.
Image source: Sears Holdings.
So what
The stock is now down a third from its peak on the post-earnings rally at $9.90 and about 20% from its closing price at $8.48 on May 25. Despite a narrower loss than expected in the quarter, reality seems to be quickly creeping in on Sears investors again.
Though there was no significant news out on the stock today, the market seems to be reacting to developments in recent days that Sears is being sued by its suppliers and the company acknowledged a recent credit card data breach at Kmart.
Last Wednesday, the company said it found unauthorized credit card activity that compromised some credit card numbers, but it said no customers were impacted.
Meanwhile, the retailer has also been embroiled in a legal battle with a key supplier, as toolmaker One World threatened to sue Sears if it isn't released from its contract, prompting Sears CEO Eddie Lampert to accuse it of trying to "embarrass" his company in the media.
Now what
Sears' problems continue to be many and manifest. The company is losing hundreds of millions of dollars each quarter, and comparable sales continue to plummet. Despite Lampert's efforts to restore stability, he is running out of brands to sell, and department stores are in a secular decline anyway. Expect more days like this for Sears Holdings in the future.
